Unknown Photo Archive
Ukrainian photographer Arthur Bondar saw an announcement that the family of an unknown Soviet photographer during World War II was selling his work. Having bought the archive and scanned the negatives, Bondar found rare front-line shots of Valery Faminsky, a military photographer who shot everything from the liberation of Sevastopol to the complete surrender of Nazi Germany.
Arthur Bondar : Ukrainian photographer. Born in Krivoy Rog, lives in Moscow. He studied documentary photography and human rights at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in New York. Winner of the United States Documentary Photography Foundation, a Magnum Foundation scholarship holder for human rights and a National Geographic grant. Now she participates in the educational program of the photo agency VII Photo and continues to work on personal and group projects in Ukraine, Russia and other countries. Co-founder of the magazine Blueframejournal and a member of the international team of the magazine about photography Raw View Magazine.
- We all uselessly spend a huge amount of time on social networks. But sometimes it is social networks that can help find something special and very important. In August, 2016, one of my Facebook friends, made a post that someone was selling negatives from a Soviet photographer during World War II. I have been interested since childhood story. Perhaps that is why I became a photographer. The period of the Second World War is especially close to me - at that time two of my grandmothers were taken out of Ukraine for forced labor to Germany. Since childhood, I remember their stories about the events that happened to them during the war. One of the grandmothers worked in a peat factory, and the second was a governess in an Austrian family. Much later, my interest resulted in a large project about veterans of the "Signature of War", which was published as a book in 2015 year.
The course of the dressing. Germany, rn Seelow Heights. April, 1945 year
Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Blood transfusion in the medical center. Berlin. May, 1945
Removal of the injured on dogs from the battlefield. Germany, rn Seelow Heights. April, 1945 year
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Seeing the dead comrades. East Germany. April, 1945 year
Unloading the wounded to a medical center on the Friedrichstraße. Berlin 30 April 1945
"Rana is a wound, and business is a matter." Berlin. May, 1945 year
People clean the streets of Berlin. May, 1945
Berlin. May, 1945 year
Berlin. May, 1945 year
At the walls of the Reichstag. Berliners clearing the streets of the city. Berlin. May, 1945 year
Germany, April-May, 1945 year
Germany, April-May, 1945 year
The next day after the purchase of the archive, I flew to the shooting in Kaliningrad, and put the archive in the closet. Returning home in two weeks, I began to scan the negatives. Negatives were cut one frame each, each neatly wrapped in a piece of paper. All of them were numbered and signed. The more I scanned, the more immersed in the history of the events of World War II. And only then could I fully appreciate this unique piece of our unknown history.
Berlin, 1945 year
In 1941-m - backfired, in 1945-m - responded. Suburb of Berlin, May 1945 of the year
Alert the population about the surrender of the fascist army. Berlin, 8 May 1945 of the year
Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Berlin, 1945 year
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Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Valery Faminsky
Soviet photographer. Born in 1914 in Moscow. He took photographs in 1928 year. From 1932, he worked as a photolaboratory, after that - as the head of a photolaboratory. From 1943, he served as a front-line photo reporter for the Red Army, visited seven fronts of World War II. Participated in the liberation of Sevastopol and the entry of Soviet troops in Berlin. After the war, he worked as a photo artist in the Moscow branch of the Art Fund of the RSFSR. In 1979, the USSR Union of Artists organized a personal exhibition of Faminsky's works entitled “50 years with a camera on military and peaceful roads”.
When I saw this Facebook post, I immediately went to the Avito free classified ads site where the ad was posted. In the ad, it was written that the family of a Soviet photographer was selling his front-line negatives. I wrote to the seller, and the next day we met to see the negatives. The price of the archive was very high, especially for a freelance photographer, and I began to bargain unsuccessfully. Due to the fact that I had money from the sale of my book, Shadows of the Star of Wormwood, I was able to purchase this unique archive. I also found out the name of the photographer - his name was Valery Faminsky.
When the photographer Valery Faminsky died, his wife carefully looked after the archive. And when the spouse died, the heirs found this archive in an old apartment where their parents lived. None of them were interested in photography, and they decided to sell this archive. When I asked if any of the museums was interested in such unique personnel, I was told that many museums would like to receive this archive, but for free, since the state does not have a budget for the purchase of an archive. It just shocked me, it sounded outrageous to me. At first glance at the negatives, I realized that I was looking at a unique material that I have not seen anywhere else so far. This is mostly an unknown piece of history for ordinary people, even for citizens of the former USSR. The photographs show that Faminsky was genuinely interested in the fate of people on both sides of the barricades.
Arthur Bondar : Ukrainian photographer. Born in Krivoy Rog, lives in Moscow. He studied documentary photography and human rights at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in New York. Winner of the United States Documentary Photography Foundation, a Magnum Foundation scholarship holder for human rights and a National Geographic grant. Now she participates in the educational program of the photo agency VII Photo and continues to work on personal and group projects in Ukraine, Russia and other countries. Co-founder of the magazine Blueframejournal and a member of the international team of the magazine about photography Raw View Magazine.
- We all uselessly spend a huge amount of time on social networks. But sometimes it is social networks that can help find something special and very important. In August, 2016, one of my Facebook friends, made a post that someone was selling negatives from a Soviet photographer during World War II. I have been interested since childhood story. Perhaps that is why I became a photographer. The period of the Second World War is especially close to me - at that time two of my grandmothers were taken out of Ukraine for forced labor to Germany. Since childhood, I remember their stories about the events that happened to them during the war. One of the grandmothers worked in a peat factory, and the second was a governess in an Austrian family. Much later, my interest resulted in a large project about veterans of the "Signature of War", which was published as a book in 2015 year.
The course of the dressing. Germany, rn Seelow Heights. April, 1945 year
Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Blood transfusion in the medical center. Berlin. May, 1945
Removal of the injured on dogs from the battlefield. Germany, rn Seelow Heights. April, 1945 year
[/ Center] Seeing the dead comrades. East Germany. April, 1945 year
Unloading the wounded to a medical center on the Friedrichstraße. Berlin 30 April 1945
"Rana is a wound, and business is a matter." Berlin. May, 1945 year
People clean the streets of Berlin. May, 1945
Berlin. May, 1945 year
Berlin. May, 1945 year
At the walls of the Reichstag. Berliners clearing the streets of the city. Berlin. May, 1945 year
Germany, April-May, 1945 year
Germany, April-May, 1945 year
The next day after the purchase of the archive, I flew to the shooting in Kaliningrad, and put the archive in the closet. Returning home in two weeks, I began to scan the negatives. Negatives were cut one frame each, each neatly wrapped in a piece of paper. All of them were numbered and signed. The more I scanned, the more immersed in the history of the events of World War II. And only then could I fully appreciate this unique piece of our unknown history.
Berlin, 1945 year
In 1941-m - backfired, in 1945-m - responded. Suburb of Berlin, May 1945 of the year
Alert the population about the surrender of the fascist army. Berlin, 8 May 1945 of the year
Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Berlin, 1945 year
[/ Center]Germany, April-May 1945 of the year
Valery Faminsky
Soviet photographer. Born in 1914 in Moscow. He took photographs in 1928 year. From 1932, he worked as a photolaboratory, after that - as the head of a photolaboratory. From 1943, he served as a front-line photo reporter for the Red Army, visited seven fronts of World War II. Participated in the liberation of Sevastopol and the entry of Soviet troops in Berlin. After the war, he worked as a photo artist in the Moscow branch of the Art Fund of the RSFSR. In 1979, the USSR Union of Artists organized a personal exhibition of Faminsky's works entitled “50 years with a camera on military and peaceful roads”.
When I saw this Facebook post, I immediately went to the Avito free classified ads site where the ad was posted. In the ad, it was written that the family of a Soviet photographer was selling his front-line negatives. I wrote to the seller, and the next day we met to see the negatives. The price of the archive was very high, especially for a freelance photographer, and I began to bargain unsuccessfully. Due to the fact that I had money from the sale of my book, Shadows of the Star of Wormwood, I was able to purchase this unique archive. I also found out the name of the photographer - his name was Valery Faminsky.
When the photographer Valery Faminsky died, his wife carefully looked after the archive. And when the spouse died, the heirs found this archive in an old apartment where their parents lived. None of them were interested in photography, and they decided to sell this archive. When I asked if any of the museums was interested in such unique personnel, I was told that many museums would like to receive this archive, but for free, since the state does not have a budget for the purchase of an archive. It just shocked me, it sounded outrageous to me. At first glance at the negatives, I realized that I was looking at a unique material that I have not seen anywhere else so far. This is mostly an unknown piece of history for ordinary people, even for citizens of the former USSR. The photographs show that Faminsky was genuinely interested in the fate of people on both sides of the barricades.
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